Impact of COVID-19 on small businesses in Canada, first quarter of 2021. StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada. Catalogue no. 45280001. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada, Government of Canada.
This analysis covers how COVID-19 negatively impacted small businesses across Canada. Following the onset of the pandemic, Canada experienced a drastic drop in its real gross domestic product (GDP), with the economy contracting 18.2% between March and April 2020. From mid-January to mid-February 2021, Statistics Canada conducted the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions,…Read More
Women in recessions: What makes COVID-19 different? LMI Insight Report no. 39. Ottawa, ON: Labour Market Information Council.
Women have faced a disproportionate impact from COVID-19 on several fronts. First, women are overrepresented in some of the hardest-hit sectors, such as retail and accommodation and food services, that rely on face-to-face contact. Second, other employment vulnerabilities were also exposed by the pandemic. Women represent 58% of employment in low-income earning occupations and…Read More
Public policy in a time of crisis: A framework for evaluating Canada’s COVID-19 income support programs. Canadian Public Policy.
This study evaluates Canadian income support programs introduced for workers during the first wave of COVID-19, specifically the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). The study uses a framework that proposes balancing efficiency, equity and voice (EEV) as the main objective of crisis labour market policies. The authors…Read More
Predicted earnings losses from graduating during COVID-19. Canadian Public Policy.
This paper explores how COVID-19 and the lockdown imposed to stop the spread of the virus have resulted in a significant decline in the labour market prospects of graduates otherwise poised to enter the market at a time when conditions were generally favourable. The authors predict that 2021 graduates will lose between 5%…Read More
The youth and COVID-19: Access to decent jobs amid the pandemic. Ankara, Turkey: ILO.
This research explores the impact of COVID-19 on youth in host and refugee communities in Turkey. Using qualitative and quantitative data collected from 15 May to 10 August 2020, the report focuses on youth “not in employment, education or training (NEET).” The report argues that a high rate of youth with NEET status…Read More
Yesterday’s gone: Exploring possible futures of Canada’s labour market in a post-COVID world.
We are living in very uncertain times, which makes it critical to be prepared for the years to come. This report outlines eight “megatrends” and 34 related “meso” trends with the potential to impact the future of Canada’s labour market. Many of these trends have been intensified by COVID-19, while others have emerged as…Read More
COVID-19 and the demand for labour and skills in Europe: Early evidence and implications for migration policy. Brussels, Belgium: Migration Policy Institute.
This paper explores how COVID-19 will make it harder to address the pervasive skills and labour challenges that the European Union was already facing before the pandemic hit. Failure to sufficiently invest in skills during these troubled times may have implications for how quickly European economies will recover. Investing in building the skills of…Read More
Work-from-home during COVID-19: Accounting for the care economy to build back better. The Economic and Labour Relations Review.
Work-from-home has been hailed as a short-term solution to stop the spread of COVID-19. However, acting as if an employee’s home is a cost-less resource, free for appropriation in an emergency, ignores how the home functions as a site of gendered relations of care and labour. The uneven burden of dealing with this pandemic…Read More
Mapping Canada’s training ecosystem: Much needed and long overdue. IRPP Insight, 34. Montreal, QC: Institute for Research on Public Policy.
The authors argue that Canada needs a comprehensive information system that links the skills acquired through training and education programs to those sought in the job market. This system should have the following interlocking components: 1) a database of training and education programs and providers; 2) a classification system of skills and other job…Read More
An exploration of work–life wellness and remote work during and beyond COVID-19. Canadian Journal of Career Development, 20(1), 46–56.
The paper reviews literature on COVID-19, remote work and work–life wellness. It concludes that the work–life wellness of remote workers may be impacted by a lack of organizational support during the transition to remote work, combined with COVID-19 related stresses. Although remote workers had slightly higher job satisfaction and lower stress compared to traditional…Read More